


Geronimo

by obaewan-kenobi (bartontyrells39)



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Conversations, Babies, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death In Dream, Cliffhangers, Domestic Fluff, Drama, Dreams, Established Relationship, F/M, Female Friendship, Fluff, Nightmares, Pregnancy, Romance, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-05-09 03:57:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5524508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bartontyrells39/pseuds/obaewan-kenobi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of all the couples at the Playground, no one expected that the pair to end up pregnant would be Fitz and Jemma. As they attempt to keep their lives from turning upside down, SHIELD may do just that.<br/>{Canon divergent after reunion scene in 3x10}</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Test

The alarm clock buzzed. Fitz quickly hit the snooze button and rolled over to face Jemma. 

"Good morning." He whispered groggily.

"Hardly," Jemma replied, glancing at the clock hanging on the opposite wall and sitting up. 

"Did you sleep at all last night?" He asked. 

"Maybe a few hours, if that"

"Will you please tell me what's been bothering you? I hate feeling helpless, especially when it comes to you." He sat up and put his hand on her arm.

“It’s nothing to worry about,” she promised with a small smile. Fitz kissed her on the cheek and stood.

“Daisy’s Christmas party is tonight,” he said, pulling tac gear out of a drawer and tossing it on the bed behind her. He began to change into his own.

“She hasn’t stopped talking about it. It should be fun, but I think we should be more worried about the mission we have to do first,” Jemma sighed. Fitz paused and shrugged.

“Should be relatively easy. Coulson said the base was abandoned for months since Hydra tried to bring that thing back from Maveth. It still legally belongs to the ATCU, which hasn’t even been active since…”

“Ros, yeah,” Jemma looked down. “I know. But we all know too well how easily Hydra can vanish without a trace and reappear from nowhere.”

“We’re just searching for more inhumans. All scans show that the base is shielded, so there’s no way to be certain unless we send a team in. Ros’ old logs show that there were some being kept there at some point, but who knows if that’s still true.” He finished getting dressed and sat down on the bed next to Jemma.

“I know. I’ll put an ICER in my pack before we leave. I have to take a shower before we go.” She stood up, grabbing Fitz’s hand. “Meet you at breakfast?”

“Meet you at breakfast,” he agreed, and stole a quick kiss on his way out.

Jemma’s smile faltered the moment he was out of sight. The uneasiness she had felt for the past week bubbled up again. Her eyes drifted down to the small paper bag under the bed that Bobbi had gotten for her last night. Jemma had told herself she would take the test as soon as Bobbi brought it back for her, but she still couldn’t bring herself to do it. She picked up the tac gear off of the bed and headed to the shower.

 

 

Bobbi passed Jemma the box of cereal.

“So what happened?” she whispered. “Was it positive? Are you…?”

“No,” Jemma replied, perhaps a bit too quickly. “I mean, I don’t… I haven’t taken it yet.”

“You haven’t…? You’ve told Fitz, at least, right?” Jemma remained silent, pouring milk into her cereal.

“You haven’t even told Fitz yet?” Bobbi whispered, slightly louder than she had been.

“Told Fitz what?” Hunter asked, coming up on Jemma’s other side and pouring his own bowl of cereal. “That you’re eating for two?” He offered Jemma a banana. She pushed it away and turned to Bobbi.

“You told him?” she demanded.

“I was there when she bought it,” he shot back.

“He wouldn’t shut up unless I told him it wasn’t for me,” Bobbi explained. She leaned forward to talk to Hunter. “Besides, she hasn’t even taken it yet.”

“You what?” he blurted. There were several groggy shushes from the breakfast table across the room.

“Sorry,” he whispered, “It’s just not something I would put off.”

“Oh, please,” Jemma returned, “Like you have any idea whit it’s like being in this situation.” Bobbi and Hunter exchanged a look,

“Trust me, we do,” Bobbi admitted, “Nothing came of it but I couldn’t have done it without him.” She glanced back at the table. “Tell Fitz. You’ll feel better.”

“Thanks,” Jemma concluded, and made her way to the empty seat next to Fitz at the table.

“What was Hunter yelling about?” he asked.

“Oh, nothing,” Jemma replied after a moment of hesitation, “Bobbi forgot to buy his favorite soda for the party when they went on the grocery run last night.”

“Gotcha. Oh, by the way, I grabbed this for you,” he added, holding up a banana.

 

 

Jemma slipped an ICER into her pack. Daisy poked her head in the door to the armory and smiled.

“Wheels up in ten,” Daisy told her.

“Thanks,” Jemma replied with a smile, and Daisy ducked out as Lincoln walked by.

Jemma took a deep breath, picked up her pack, and stood in the doorway. All throughout breakfast, she had thought about what Bobbi had said. It was only a pregnancy test, after all. It wasn’t any sort of guarantee of any result. She swallowed the knot in her stomach and headed down the hall. She walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She let her pack fall to the floor. She bent down and fiddled with the zipper, pulling out a small paper bag. She emptied the bag, pulling out a small rectangular purple box. She opened it and read the instructions. She followed them word for word, put the test facedown on the counter, set a timer on her phone for three minutes, and began to wash her hands. Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

“Hello?” she called out.

“Jemma?” It was Fitz’s voice that called back. “There you are. I was looking all over the base for you. We have to get going.” Jemma quickly dried her hands, shoved the test in her pack, slipped her phone into her pocket, and opened the door.

“Then let’s go,” she replied, smiling. She grabbed his hand and began to head down the hallway toward the hangar. She opened her mouth to speak, but just then the alarm on her phone went off.

“What’s that?” Fitz asked.

“Oh, I must have accidentally set an alarm. Don’t worry about it.” Fitz nodded slowly.

“Is there something you’re not telling me?” he asked.

“Yes,” Jemma answered without hesitation.

“Are you planning on telling me anytime? It’s got to do with what you’re worried about isn’t it?” He stopped and squeezed her hand, his blue eyes scanning her face for answers.

“Soon,” she promised, squeezing his hand back. She kissed him on the cheek and led him to the hangar.

 

 

The cloaked quinjet touched down outside the Hydra facility near Pittsburgh. A light blanket of snow covered the ground, and Daisy led her team to the entrance.

“Okay, is everyone clear on what they’re doing?” she asked. Jemma, Fitz, and Lincoln all nodded. Daisy smiled. “Let’s go rescue some inhumans.”

Lincoln blasted the electronic lock on the door and led the team inside. The interior of the base was a large, airy atrium that appeared to have been empty for several months. There were several comfy-looking sofas and a security desk directly to the left of the door. Fitz and Jemma immediately headed there. Fitz pulled out his tablet and plugged it into the computer, which whirred to life.

“Will this work?” Jemma asked, glancing over the counter at Daisy and Lincoln scouting the remainder of the large room.

“It should,” Fitz replied, typing frantically on his tablet. “I’m accessing the thermal detection of the security system and cross-referencing it with a 3-D map of the facility. It should be ready any moment, then we’ll know if and where there are any captive inhumans.” Suddenly Jemma heard a faint sound of echoing footsteps.

“Do you hear that?” she asked, looking around. Fitz’s tablet dinged.

“Aha! So, if that’s us…” he pointed at two red shapes in the north most corner of the large atrium. He opened his mouth to say something else, but his brow furrowed as he noticed a big red splotch moving up a hallway towards them.

“We’ve got company!” He yelled.

“From where?” Daisy shouted back. Just then a door in the center of the atrium slammed open and about a dozen armed Hydra soldiers burst in. Jemma pulled Fitz down behind the desk as a bullet shattered the computer. She took off her pack and rummaged through it until she found her ICER.

“Abandoned for months, huh?” Jemma asked over the gunfire, as she pulled out the gun. Something caught on her hand as she pulled it out, and tumbled to the floor at Fitz’s feet, unbeknownst to Jemma. She peered over the security desk and aimed at one of the Hydra soldiers and pulled the trigger. She saw Daisy and Lincoln take down two each, making their way back toward the security desk.

“Jemma?” she heard Fitz ask quietly.

“Now who’s regretting not bringing an ICER?” Jemma shouted, and took out another pair of Hydra soldiers. She turned back and saw Fitz crouching with a familiar thin white stick of plastic in his hands, his eyes glued to it.

“Jemma, is this what I think it is?” he asked.

“Fitz,” she began, not knowing what else to say. That word had always come easy to her. Rarely had anything else that followed.

“It’s…” he trailed off.

“Mine?” she offered.

“Positive,” he uttered, looking back up at her, eyes wide.

“Holy shit,” she heard Lincoln whisper to himself. She looked up to see that Lincoln and Daisy had cleared their way to the security desk.

“There’ll be more of them. We’re, uh, falling back,” Daisy said, and dragged Lincoln away to give them their privacy. Jemma grabbed the test back from Fitz, shoved it into her pack, and stood up. She held her hand out to him to help him up.

“This is what you weren’t talking about?” He asked. She nodded. He hesitated and grabbed her hand.

“You know, I should be helping _you_ up,” he said with a faint smile. He didn’t let go of her hand as they hurried toward the exit.

“I thought you would be mad,” she confessed.

“I am, a little bit,” he admitted, as they got back onto the quinjet. “Only because you should have told me. I wish you’d told me.” He squeezed her hand and let go as he began to strap in.

“I had planned to,” she said, doing the same as the quinjet lifted off the ground and began home.

“I’m not sorry,” she added after a few moments of silence.

“You don’t have to be,” he replied. Jemma leaned her head back and closed her eyes, letting relief crash over her like waves. Yes, she no longer had to keep that news to herself, but now the news was in itself another matter entirely. How was she going to keep _this_ a secret?

“That was a bust,” Daisy said, walking back from the cockpit a few minutes later. She sat down across from them, next to Lincoln.

“Not quite,” Fitz argued, pulling his tablet out of his pack. “I managed to complete the scan for life signs before things went to hell. Picked up something in the Southeast corner in the basement.” He zoomed in and handed it to Daisy. Lincoln leaned in to see as well.

“Are those…?” he began

“Inhumans,” Daisy smiled and looked up at Fitz. “At least a dozen of them.”

“We have to go back for them,” Lincoln insisted.

“We do,” she agreed, “but they’re too heavily guarded. We have to come back with more people. And more guns. I should call Coulson, tell him what we’ve learned.” She stood up and headed back toward the cockpit. Jemma unbuckled and went after her, grabbing her arm.

“You won’t tell him, will you? The other thing, I mean. It would be better coming from me,” she tried.

“Of course not, Jemma,” Daisy smiled reassuringly.

 

 

“Well,” Fitz sighed, leaning back against the headboard as he sat down on the bed, “A lot more things happened to me today than I was bargaining for.”

“It’s not over yet. We’ve still got Daisy’s party. If we missed that we might never hear the end of it. We haven’t even been back an hour and she’s already decorating,” Jemma said, changing into more comfortable clothes. “Besides, is that a bad thing?”

“I’m not exactly fond of being shot at by Hydra soldiers.”

“Leo, you know what I meant. It’s just…” she sighed, and sat down on the bed next to him. “I have no idea what we’re going to do. “

“Jemma, listen to me,” he said, putting his arm around her. “I’m not saying you have to make the decision by yourself, but whatever you want to do, I’m here in full support.” She leaned her head on his shoulder.

“I appreciate that. But I’m not-” she took a deep breath, “I’m not ready to make a decision quite yet.”

“That’s okay,” he reassured her, rubbing her shoulder with his thumb. “We’ve got time.”

“Thank you,” she said. They sat in silence like that for a while, neither of them kept track of how long. Finally Jemma scooted down so her head was on her pillow. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to take a nap before the party. Wake me up at six, I’ll need at least an hour to get ready.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he smiled, and kissed her on the forehead. He got up and quietly changed out of his tac gear and into more comfortable clothes.

“Fitz?” Jemma muttered groggily.

“Yes?” he whispered.

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you, too,” he replied, and slipped out.

 

 

“I’m suddenly regretting this,” Jemma whispered as they entered the party. The atmosphere felt almost entirely too Christmas-y. There were colored lights everywhere and she was slightly overwhelmed. The tree in the corner was much more decorated than she remembered it being at breakfast that morning.

“Shh, she sees us,” Fitz whispered. Jemma smoothed her black and gold brocade dress, and the pair of them put on smiles as Daisy’s face lit up across the room. She finished up her conversation and made her way over to them.  
            “Merry Christmas! I’m so glad you guys came!” she said, hugging them both at the same time. “I thought you might not, you know, with the…” She trailed off.

“Nonsense,” Jemma replied. “It looks amazing! How could we miss this? You’ve been talking about it for at least a month and planning it for even longer.”

“It’s just, I’ve been wanting to do it since the first Christmas here, and thankfully this year Coulson finally caved.

“Is he coming?” Fitz asked.

“No, he and May decided to sit this one out. I did invite them, though.” She spotted someone behind them and waved. “I have to go meet Joey’s new boyfriend. I’ll meet up with you guys later, okay?” She smiled and disappeared behind them.

“I didn’t realize this many people lived here,” Fitz observed.

“Well, I don’t suppose we’ve seen them all in one spot before,” Jemma guessed. A few of the lab techs approached them and made small talk for a little while, before Fitz excused himself to use the restroom.

“Are you okay?” Jemma turned around to see Daisy had found her again.

“It’s debatable,” Jemma sighed. “I am hungry, though,” she stated, and they walked over to the snack table. She started filling up a plate.

“Do you know what you’re going to do?” Daisy asked, as they claimed a table.

“Not yet. I mean, I only found out today. Don’t worry about me. It’s your party. Enjoy it. I’m just here for the food anyway.” She smiled. Daisy’s face lit up and Jemma turned around to see Lincoln approaching with an armful of drinks.

“Hey, you,” Daisy said, as he put a drink down in front of each of them, and one at the empty seat next to Jemma for Fitz.

“Hey,” Lincoln replied, taking the empty seat next to Daisy. He turned to face Jemma. “Sorry about earlier. A lot was happening.”

“Yeah, it was.” Jemma said, eyeing the drink he had placed in front of her.

“It’s non-alcoholic,” he reassured her. “I can help, you know. I may not have any PhDs, but I am a medical doctor. I can give you a, uh, checkup. Whenever you want one. Just let me know.” There was a pause.

“Thank you, Lincoln,” Jemma smiled. “I appreciate it.”

“Guys, I’m sitting right next you,” Daisy said in mock offense.

“There you are.” Fitz reappeared and took the seat next to Jemma. Bobbi and Hunter joined them soon after, and the rest of the night flew by. At the end of the night, a slow Christmas song began to play. Daisy insisted that she and Lincoln go dance, and the others soon followed. Many of the other agents had left and there were very few people left on the dance floor. Jemma rested her head on Fitz’s shoulder as they softly swayed to the music. She lifted her eyes. Her eyes met with Bobbi’s blue ones and Skye’s brown ones. She knew, then, that nothing would ever be the same after that day.


	2. Pictures in our Heads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The impending danger of the next mission throws Fitz and Jemma at odds.

Jemma ducked into Coulson’s office the next morning and squeezed in behind Daisy for the briefing.

“You were almost late,” Daisy whispered.

“Almost being the key word here,” Jemma replied with a smirk. She glanced around the room. Fitz, Mack, May, Lincoln, Joey, Bobbi, and Hunter joined Jemma and Daisy in the slight semicircle opposite the Director. Coulson cleared his throat at the front, and the rest of the agents fell silent.

“As you may have heard, yesterday’s mission to the ATCU facility was unsuccessful. However, it wasn’t a total failure. Agent Fitz managed to get his hands on a map and confirm that there are indeed inhumans being held captive, and their exact locations. Unfortunately, the team sent in yesterday was ambushed by a team of a dozen Hydra soldiers, and were unable to retrieve the inhumans. For that reason, in six days, there will be another team, which will return to the ATCU facility in order to do just that. Fitz’s map of the facility is not a live feed, so we’ll have to go on the hope that Hydra has no expectation of us returning and keeps the inhumans where they were at the time we acquired the map.” He turned to the screen behind him and pulled up the map. He used his fingers to zoom in on the red spots, which were now very clearly at the ends of two different, rather far apart corridors.

“We will only be sending six agents into the facility; two teams of three, one for each potential group of inhumans. The teams will be led by Agents MacKenzie and Johnson; each consisting of an expert in Inhuman biology and someone who can assist in the inhuman evacuation in the event that the operation is compromised. Agent Simmons and Agent Gutierrez will accompany Agent Johnson, and Agent May and Agent Campbell will accompany Agent MacKenzie. Bobbi, Hunter, you’ll be monitoring the situation from here, waiting for Daisy and Mack’s okay for you to send in backup. Any questions?”

“Sir,” Lincoln began, “What makes you think they’ll let us waltz in and out with however many inhumans are there? Last time there were only four of us and we barely got out without a scratch. Why send in six of us now?”

“That’s a good question. Agent Fitz?” he gestured and Fitz came forward with a small device in his hand.

“Last time, we were going in blind. Now we know exactly what we’re up against. The security system in the facility is based mostly on thermal detection. This,” Fitz held up his device, which Jemma recognized as what he had been working on for the past few weeks, “is a Thermal Damper. When worn, it blocks your thermal signal from the detection program of the security system. We only have six, and the materials are incredibly hard to come by, thus the agent limit.”

“Thank you, Fitz. Bobbi has agreed to show you how to disable the stasis cubes tomorrow. That’s all.” Coulson concluded, and the rest of them dispersed.

* * *

“Are you messing with me?” Fitz asked suspiciously. Mack examined the Thermal Damper, which looked even smaller in his hand.

“No. I can’t ask a genuine question? I wouldn’t want to be the one to compromise the mission.” Mack replied.

“No, your size won’t affect how the Damper works. Your signal should still be blocked.”

“Good. Now, tell me what’s been bugging you.”

“What?” Fitz was taken aback.

“You’ve been acting funky lately.”

“I have?”

“Nothing wildly outrageous, but yeah. What’s up? You okay?”

“You sure you want to go there? It’s a lot.”

“I asked, didn’t I?” Fitz looked up at Mack and noticed the expression of genuine concern on his face and took a deep breath.

“It’s just- Jemma’s pregnant. And I’m okay with that, I think. But we’ve only known for five days and we haven’t decided what we’re going to do yet so she’s fine with going on the mission back to the ATCU facility.”

“Wow. Okay.” Mack was dumbfounded. “So where’s the problem?”

“I’m… not. I don’t want her to go on the mission. Is that selfish of me? To want her to be safe?”

“You’re trying to look out for her. I wouldn’t call that selfish.” Fitz’s lack of response told Mack that wasn’t the end of it. “Does she know you don’t want her to go?”

“No.”

“Well, why haven’t you told her?”

“I kind of told her I was okay with whatever she wanted.” Mack opened his mouth to chastise Fitz, but Fitz cut him off. “I thought I would be! It’s only been four days, and believe me, I want so badly for that to be true, but…”

“Sounds to me like you’ve already made up your mind.”

* * *

 

Jemma sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands. “Fitz, this shouldn’t be a debate! We go on missions regularly. This is no more dangerous than any we’ve been on before”

“Things are obviously different now!”

“They shouldn’t be! Not until we’ve decided what we’re doing…” she trailed off as Fitz looked at the ground and sat down next to her.

“Unless you already have,” she finished. Fitz opened his mouth to object, but knew he could say nothing to convince her of anything other than the truth, so he closed his eyes and nodded.

“You want to keep it? You said, and I quote, ‘whatever you want to do, I’m here in full support.’ Did you mean a word of it?”

“Jemma, of course I meant it when I said it! I’ve been thinking about it is all. I mean, are you so against keeping it?”

“Well, no, but I just thought you had my back whichever choice I decided to make.”

“I do, really. But it’s like I said, you don’t have to make the choice _alone._ And you can’t just act like nothing is different until you decide, though. You have to be careful. If you decide you want to keep it, you’ll be glad you did. If not, well, no harm no foul. This is a baby, Jemma, our baby. Please don’t go on this mission. It’s in two days. Please think about it.” With that, he stood up and left the room.

* * *

 

Daisy stepped out of the elevator and into the vast infirmary. Back in the day, it had been one big room filled with beds and overhead lamps that spanned underneath almost the entire base. In the four months since Coulson had reopened Vault C and placed Lincoln in charge, the infirmary had undergone a major transformation. No longer a vast room, it was now more of a mini-hospital. Prepared for a major disaster and also routine checkups, the infirmary now had two exam rooms, an O.R., five recovery rooms with two beds each that doubled as trauma rooms if need be, three mini-labs, and just about every different type of scanner. Lincoln had dedicated one of the labs to studying the biology of inhumans, but Daisy wasn’t here to see Lincoln. Over the past few months, he and Jemma had been working together as he taught her what he knew about the inhumans’ biology. On the rare occasion that Jemma and Fitz were fighting, Daisy could find Jemma avoiding the lab and occupying one of the infirmary’s labs. She peeked in the doors of all three of labs and found her in the last one. She knocked on the doorframe.

“There you are,” Daisy smiled. Jemma looked up from the computer.

“Daisy, hi. What’s up?” she turned her chair and smiled at Daisy. Daisy scanned the table and noticed a few vials in the machine on the table.

“I was just checking on you. Making sure you were okay. Whose blood work is that?” Daisy asked.

“It’s mine,” Jemma admitted. “I’m just, I don’t know, triple checking.” Daisy had to smile.

“Jemma, you’ve been sick like clockwork for the past week. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen you eat so much the entire time I’ve known you.” Jemma exhaled slowly.

“I know. The results correspond with all the other tests I’ve taken. I suppose I was just hoping for an easy way out. Fitz and I could stop fighting about this if there was no baby to care about.”

“So you’re considering…”

“Oh, goodness, no. I would never.”

“So you want to keep it too?”

“Yes? I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Then why don’t you tell Fitz that?”

“I don’t know. I think we have different pictures in our heads of how this will play out if we go through with it.”

“And that’s a bad thing? Trust me, Jemma. I had pictures in my head of what my perfect family was. I spent my first two years at SHIELD trying to find it, and it wasn’t until after I finally met my parents that I realized my real family had been around me the whole time. Pictures in your head can be nice, but reality can surprise you. In more ways than one.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“It sounds like you guys are both up for it. Give it a shot. See what happens.”

“It’s a lot.”

“I know. But you’re Jemma Simmons. You’ve survived six months on an alien planet. You jumped out of an airplane without a parachute and lived. Hell, you’ve saved my life at least once. I think you’re pretty kickass.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Now come on,” Daisy extended her hand towards Jemma, “It’s getting late and we’ve got a mission tomorrow.”

* * *

 

Fitz was woken by Jemma stirring long before sunrise. “Jemma?” he called.

“Go back to sleep, Fitz. It’s early,” she whispered as she sat up.

“So you’re leaving, then?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied. He turned back over to face away from her.

“So you didn’t listen to a word I said the other day?”

“Fitz, it’s not like that.” She didn’t want to argue this early.

“Isn’t it?” Jemma turned to look at him and took a deep breath.

“I want to keep it,” she said. Fitz sat up and looked at her in the darkness.

“What?”

“The baby. I’ll go on this mission, but it’ll be my last one, until… for now.”

“You’re not just saying that, are you?” Fitz couldn’t help but smile a little.

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot, since before our fight, and I’m sure. Fitz, I want this. We can tell Coulson when I get back. I suppose you can tell him before that if you really want to.”

“So we’re actually doing this?”

“We’re actually doing this.” Jemma smiled and looked back at him. He leaned forward and kissed her long and deep. When he stopped for breath he touched his forehead to hers.

“Please stay,” he whispered.

“Fitz,” Jemma said, almost scoldingly.

“Fine. Be safe, okay?”

“I will. Go back to sleep,” she insisted, and stood up.

“I love you,” he said, laying back down and rolling over, pulling up the blankets to his chin.

“See you when I get back,” she said. “Love you too,” she whispered from the doorway as he fell back asleep.

* * *

The quinjet touched down in the same place as last time, and the agents all turned on their cloaking devices. Jemma double checked everyone, stopping at Mack.

“Fitz told me,” he said.

“I see,” she replied as she made sure the light on his Thermal Damper was lit.

“You guys work everything out?”

“For the most part, yes.” He would have said more, but the quinjet’s door lowered and the six figures emerged, heading for the ATCU facility. They made their way into the atrium as it they had before, and everything looked exactly the same as they had left it. Jemma noticed the shattered computer monitor in the corner and felt something off.

“This way,” Daisy said. She led the way to the hallway that a week ago armed Hydra agents had been pouring out of. After a few minutes of navigating the facility, Jemma recognized the fork at the end of the hall from the map.

“Alright, D. This is where we leave you,” Mack said.

“See you on the other side,” Daisy replied, “And hopefully not empty handed.” Jemma and Joey followed Daisy and headed down the passage to the left. There was still a long way to the room where they believed the inhumans to be, so Daisy soon fell back in pace with Jemma while Joey remained in the lead.

“So did you talk to him?” Daisy asked quietly.

“Yes,” Jemma replied, “I think things are going to be okay.”

“Good, that’s good.” Daisy looked down at the map on her tablet. “We’re getting close. It should be that door at the end of the hallway. I’ll commence the scan.” Joey walked ahead and began examining the door. Suddenly Mack’s voice came on Daisy’s earpiece.

“Daisy, come in,” it said.

“Mack, is everything okay? Have you found any inhumans?”

“Not yet, but here is a problem. May’s cloaking device isn’t on. We just noticed but I can’t say for how long it’s been like that. Something’s not right, D. Shouldn’t there be Hydra goons on our asses by now?”

“I’ll keep you posted. Stay sharp, there’s definitely something going on here,” Daisy replied.

“What happened?” Jemma asked, noticing the worried expression on Daisy’s face.

“May’s cloaking device is dead but there’s no sign of Hydra.” Jemma nodded.

“I’ll tell Joey,” Jemma decided, and began walking towards him.

“I’ll melt the lock so we can get in,” he yelled to her as he saw her approaching from the far end of the hallway. Just then Daisy’s tablet lit up, but not with life signs.

“Joey, wait!” she called. Jemma tuned to look at Daisy over her shoulder and opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but was cut off. Heat and fire burst out from the open door where Joey stood and forced its way into the narrow hallway. The three of them were blown backwards and everything went black.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. The Year's End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the mission goes awry, Jemma, Daisy, and Joey are left confined to spend the night in the infirmary, just in time to ring in the new year. AKA the one when mom and dad find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so soooo sorry that this took so long to update. I left it on a cliffhanger and, knowing myself, I should have known that that was not a great plan. I worked hard on this chapter, and if the long list of excuses as to why it took so long won't help you forgive me, then maybe the fact that this chapter is longer by far than the other two might. I'm graduating hs next week so maybe I'll have more time to update more frequently over the summer.  
> As always, thanks to my wonderful beta.

“May I speak with you, sir?” Fitz asked after he knocked on the doorframe of Coulson’s office.

Coulson looked up from his desk and gestured toward the seat across from him. “Have a seat,” he said. Fitz walked in and sat down opposite the director. “What can I do for you today, Fitz?”

Fitz opened his mouth to say what he had come to say, but nothing came out. “How’s your hand?” he asked instead.

“It’s good. Great, actually,” Coulson replied, taking off his glove and flexing his robotic appendage as he admired it. “I think this might be the one.”

“Really? That’s good to hear. I don’t think I could have done it without Mr. Stark’s help.” Fitz still couldn’t believe _the_ Tony Stark had agreed to Coulson’s idea of working together to create the perfect bionic hand -- after he had gotten over the fact that Coulson was still alive, of course. Fitz didn’t like to think about what had happened to Coulson’s previous hand-- where he had left it. Coulson scanned Fitz’s face.

“You didn’t come here to ask about my hand, did you?” Coulson asked.

“No, sir,” Fitz admitted. He would have continued, but Hunter appeared breathless at the door.

“Fitz, there you are,” he huffed. “I searched the whole bloody base for you.”

“What is it?” Fitz asked.

“There was an explosion at the Hydra facility. It was a set up. Mack didn’t say how bad it was, but he said only Daisy and her team were hurt. Daisy’s awake, but Gutierrez and Simmons are unconscious.” Both Fitz and Coulson stood up.

“Where are they?” Fitz asked. Hunter looked at his watch.

“About three minutes out. Medical is prepping for their arrival and a ship from the Cocoon will be here in fifteen minutes.”

“The Cocoon?” Coulson asked. “You mean…” Hunter smiled.

“They found ten contained inhumans. We assumed you’d want them to receive proper training.”

“Absolutely,” Coulson replied. Fitz walked back to the door, intending to head out with Hunter.

“Fitz,” Coulson called after him, “What did you come here to tell me?” Fitz made eye contact with Hunter, who replied with a look that seemed to say, ‘Don’t look at me, mate.’ Fitz looked back at Coulson and calmly said, “Jemma and I are having a baby.” He quickly grabbed Hunter’s arm and disappeared out the door. They headed quickly down one of the Playground’s many corridors toward the hangar.

* * *

 

There was a ringing in Daisy’s ears. Her vision blurred as she came to, but a few blinks soon revealed the chaos around her. There was fire and debris toward the end of the hallway, and a shape that looked like Joey lay unmoving amidst it. She noticed an unconscious Jemma halfway between them, her arm pinned under some rubble. Daisy tried to sit up, but her head throbbed. She lifted her hand and moved it to her left temple, feeling something wet. When her hand pulled away it was glistening red. She forced herself up anyway. As she propped herself against the wall, she noticed her tablet smashed at her feet, and decided to call for help. She lifted her hand to her ear, relieved to find her earpiece intact and in place.

“Mack?” she breathed.

“Daisy? What happened? Are you okay?” she heard the mix of worry and relief in his voice.

“I think Hydra rigged the door to explode if anyone tampered with the lock. My head’s bleeding and my balance is shit, but I can see Jemma and Joey. There’s a lot of debris,” she paused, scanning her surroundings, “and they’re not moving, Mack.”

“Breathe. May is already on her way to help you and so is medical. See if you can find a pulse, okay?”

“Okay. Is Lincoln there?”

“He is, but he’s helping backup move the inhumans onto a plane.”

“You found them?”

“Yep. Ten of ‘em. May’ll be there soon. Make sure you’re team’s okay. I’ll see you soon, Daisy.” Her earpiece went silent. She inhaled deeply and stood, bracing herself on the wall. She managed to make it to Jemma only slightly slower than she normally would have. As she knelt down in front of Jemma, she looked up and saw May rounding the corner into the corridor. May paused and took in the situation, then started toward Daisy and Jemma. Daisy put two fingers on Jemma’s left wrist and let out a sigh of relief.

“She’s got a pulse,” Daisy told May as she approached.

“Good. Medical’s not far behind me. I’ll go check on Gutierrez. You stay put. Don’t think about moving that debris,” May nodded toward the rubble on Jemma’s arm, “You’ll probably pass out again.” Daisy nodded reluctantly and maneuvered her way over so she was sat against the wall, not far from Jemma. She caught her breath and turned to see the medical team entering the corridor. She assumed Joey was the worst off, so she directed them towards him first. After a few worrying minutes, a pair of them went by with Joey on a gurney, and May came back with the rest of them. After clearing the debris of Jemma’s arm and splinting it, they lifted her onto a gurney. One of the medics finished bandaging Daisy’s head as they extended Jemma’s stretcher.

“May, stay with Jemma.” Daisy attempted to stand up too fast, and almost blacked out. She caught herself on the wall and took a deep breath. “Tell them she can’t lose her baby. I’m going to help Mack and the inhumans.” May put her hand on Daisy’s shoulder.

“You’re not going anywhere, you can barely stand.” She looked Daisy in the eye. After a moment of silent debate, Daisy nodded.

“I’ll go with Mack,” May assured her. “You keep an eye on Simmons, and… did you say baby?”

“Shit,” Daisy muttered, “I probably wasn’t supposed to tell you that. But, yeah. That’s definitely a thing that’s happening. I mean, it was. Now…” She trailed off as she watched the medics roll an unconscious Jemma away on a gurney. May met Daisy’s eye as she glanced back at her.

“I’ll help you to the quinjet,” May suggested. “You can keep an eye on Simmons.” She put her arm around Daisy’s waist and Daisy put her arm around May’s shoulders, and they started toward the end of the hallway. “Who else knows about Simmons?” May asked. Daisy’s head was still reeling, but she managed an answer.

“Lincoln and I accidentally found out when she and Fitz did. Hunter and Bobbi know, and I don’t doubt that Fitz has told Mack.”

“Accidentally found out?”

“It’s a long story…”

* * *

When they reached the corridor leading to the hangar, Fitz and Hunter sat down on the floor against the wall, out of breath with a few minutes to spare.

“What else did they say?” Fitz asked after a few moments.

“Not much. It sounded like Joey got the worst of it. Daisy was the only one awake when I heard, but there could have been an update since I left to tell you.” They heard the sound of the hangar doors opening and the team of quinjets landing.

“We’ll find out soon enough,” Fitz said, standing up but knowing to stay out of the way. A few minutes later, the doors at the end of the hallway opened and two medics rushed in toward the infirmary with an unconscious Joey on a gurney. Another gurney followed closely behind.

“She woke up just as we were touching down,” one of the medics told Fitz.

“Fitz?” Jemma called from it. He approached her and grabbed her hand, running with the gurney and the other medics. He noticed her other arm was in a sling.

“Are you alright?” he asked her, silently relieved.

“My head hurts and I think my arm is broken.” She looked around. “Daisy was behind me…” Fitz looked back at the door to see Daisy with a bandage wrapped around her head, being helped into the hallway by a medic.

“She still is, I can see her,” he told Jemma reassuringly.

“Good, good,” she replied as they turned the corner. The elevator at the end of the hall opened and both Joey and Jemma’s gurneys squeezed inside, Fitz between them. The doors closed. Fitz looked at Joey, who appeared surprisingly not burned, but very, very bruised. He still hadn’t woken up. Fitz absentmindedly squeezed Jemma’s hand, thankful to be holding it, thankful when she squeezed back. He turned back to her.

“What happened?” he asked as the elevator doors opened again.

“I don’t know,” Jemma replied.

“You don’t remember?”

“No, I remember. Joey yelled that he was melting the lock, then Daisy yelled for him to stop. I turned around to see her and everything went black. I woke up on the quinjet.” She shrugged. “There must have been explosives wired to the lock or something like that.” They followed Joey’s gurney out, but were led to an exam room farther down than the trauma room Joey was rolled into. Jemma was still a bit dizzy, so Fitz had to help her onto the table. After the medical team moved the gurney out, they were finally alone.

“Jemma,” Fitz began, beginning to ask the question he’d been burning to ask since he’d been sure she was okay, “You don’t think…” He would have finished, but just then a doctor walked in.

“Agent Simmons?” she asked, not looking up from her tablet.

“Yes,” Jemma replied.

“Good. Just confirming that I’m in the right room. I’m Dr. Myra. The digital form a medic filled on the quinjet said you have a broken arm and a probable concussion. Is there anything he may have missed?” she looked up from her tablet and smiled. Before Jemma could answer, Dr. Myra added, “Oh, and the form mentions that Agent Johnson informed the medic that you are pregnant, is that true?” Jemma nodded after sharing a brief moment of eye contact with Fitz.

“Thanks. I had to ask, seeing as it’s not in your record. Before I get an x-ray on your arm, how about we check to make sure everything’s okay with your baby first, okay?” Jemma agreed, and Dr. Myra asked Jemma a few questions to determine the severity of her concussion before leaving the two of them alone again.

“Well,” Jemma breathed after a moment, half in shock, “I guess this is happening today, then.”

“Yeah, I guess it is,” he replied. The corner of his mouth twitched into a smile for a brief moment, and Jemma let out a nervous giggle. As much as the prospect of seeing their child for the first time excited them, they both knew that, considering Jemma wasn’t in the best shape, there was a decent chance that something would be wrong, or it would be over before it began. They shared this feeling without speaking a word about it. After a stretch of time that could have been minutes or hours, Dr. Myra returned with a gown for Jemma to change into, then left again, promising to return shortly with the machine. If not for the sling on her arm that was over several layers of clothing and tac gear, Jemma would have insisted on changing by herself, but after considering that it would have caused such a struggle and probably more harm than good, she resigned to let Fitz help her. Dr. Myra returned with the machine on a cart just as Fitz helped her readjust her sling.

“Are you ready?” Dr. Myra asked. Jemma nodded, and Fitz took a step back to let her help Jemma get set up properly. He fidgeted with the sleeves on his button down, then felt Jemma grab his hand. Dr. Myra had started examining the monitor on the cart.

“You said you wanted to find out the age, right?” she turned back to them.

“Yes, that would be great,” Jemma replied nervously. Dr. Myra typed some things into the computer.

“It appears that you’re about five weeks along.” She looked closer to the screen and turned around again. “Would you like to see?”

“Yes,” they responded, quickly and at the same time. Dr. Myra pulled the cart nearer to them, and pointed at the screen. It showed a grey area that almost looked like T.V. static, and near the middle of that was a black bean shape, with a grey ring

“This circle here,” she said, “That is your baby.” Jemma squeezed Fitz’s hand. Dr. Myra shifted the scanner slightly, and a rhythm began coming out of the speakers on the monitor.

“And that sound?” Fitz asked.

“Is that…?” Jemma ventured.

“It’s a little early for the heartbeat,” Dr. Myra said, and turned back at them once more. “Will you be wanting pictures?”

“Absolutely,” Jemma replied, almost immediately.

* * *

 

“I don’t see it,” Daisy complained, holding the ultrasound picture toward the ceiling so both of them could see it. Since they both had concussions (Daisy’s worse than Jemma’s), they both had to be monitored overnight, and weren’t allowed to leave the infirmary until the morning. Thankfully, they _could_ leave their rooms, and Daisy had climbed into the cramped hospital bed next to Jemma and demanded to know if everything was okay.

“There,” Jemma said, pointing. The x-ray had shown that there were no fractures in her arm, just some very serious bruising. She was thankful for the full mobility again.

“ _That_?” Daisy asked. “It’s so tiny!”

“According to the internet, it’s the size of a sesame seed.”

“The internet? Wow.” Daisy turned her head to look at Jemma. “I never would have guessed two-PHDs-Jemma Simmons would turn to the internet for her pregnancy questions.”

“It’s a temporary solution. Once we’re allowed to leave the infirmary, we can head into town and buy some proper books.”

“I’m kidding. The internet _was_ my doctor when I lived in my van., and I’m not dead, so it can’t be too far off. Did you get an ETA?”

“You mean a due date?”

“Yeah, that.” Jemma laughed.

“September the first of next year. Quite a while away.”

“Watch, it’ll be August before you know it. Besides, tomorrow’s next year.”

“It is, isn’t it?” she smiled. Just then there was a knock at the door.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” They turned to look and saw Coulson standing in the door.

“We were just beginning to discuss our New Years plans,” Jemma replied, sitting up. “Is something the matter?”

“I needed to speak to you about your current situation,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine. My arm is sore and my head hurts, but I’m sure Daisy’s is worse. Is Joey awake yet?” Daisy shrugged and sat up.

“Not yet, I’m afraid. I’ll keep you updated, though. Where’s Fitz?” He asked, looking around the room.

“He ran into town to get some lunch. We were starved. He should be back any time, now.” She examined Coulson’s facial expression. “Should he be here for this?”

“You can fill him in,” he replied.

“What is it?”

“Protocol states, and now this is old protocol that I disagree with and should probably try to change, but protocol states that any agent in your condition is strongly discouraged from going on field missions. And when I say strongly discouraged…”

“You mean I can’t go on field missions at all, can I?” Coulson nodded after a moment.

“That’s so unfair,” Daisy protested.

“But you _can_ change it, right? You’re the Director,” Jemma insisted

“It’s not that simple. There’s a heap of protocol on changing protocol. It’ll take some time. Frankly, it didn’t occur to me that this would ever happen,” Coulson admitted.

“I can still work in the lab, right? You’re not keeping me from that too, are you?”

“No, of course not. I wouldn’t dream of it. You and Fitz are the heads of my science division. S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn’t be the same without you. I’d hate to lose either of you.” Jemma opened her mouth to express her thanks, but just then, Fitz walked in with a large brown paper bag.

“Director Coulson,” he began, more surprised than anything else. “Am I interrupting, or…?”

“I was actually on my way out,” Coulson replied and started toward the door. He stopped before he left, said, “Oh, and by the way, congratulations,” and disappeared out the door. Jemma smiled nervously as Fitz sat down at the foot of the bed. He placed the bag between them.

“What was that about?” he asked, pulling food out of the bag, checking the label, and handing it to Daisy.

“It’s a long story,” Jemma replied.

“I’ll give you two some privacy,” Daisy said, standing up and walking out.

“You can tell me later. I hope you’re feeling up for some visitors,” Fitz said, grabbing Jemma’s hand from across the bed.

“What?” Jemma asked. Daisy had been gone for barely a moment when Bobbi and Hunter rushed in, Bobbi going straight for the hug.

“They ambushed me outside the elevator,” he explained.

“They wouldn’t let us down,” Bobbi explained, letting go of Jemma. “It’s crazy down here. Apparently Joey’s still out, and he’s not doing so great. What about you? Are you okay? From what Mack said over comms, things seemed pretty bad at the Hydra facility.”

“I’m fine. Just a bit bruised, is all. And ready to get out of this vault,” Jemma admitted. “Joey’s still not awake? That can’t be good.”

“The doctors here know what they’re doing. You and Lincoln made sure of that,” Fitz reassured her.

“All that’s left is to wait for him to wake up,” Hunter added.

“And that’s up to him when that happens,” Bobbi conceded. She studied Jemma’s face, which had taken on an expression of worry. “You sure you’re okay? Did something happen with the, uh, other thing?”

“No, that’s good. Don’t worry about that. And you can call it what it is, pretty much everyone knows now.”

“So it’s all good news, then?” Bobbi asked, settling on the chair in the corner, Hunter leaning on the wall beside her.

“Great, actually,” Jemma replied, and squeezed Fitz’s hand.

* * *

 

Fitz looked over the data of the new inhumans he had just received on his tablet. Ten new faces, ten new abilities they had yet to understand. He looked up every few minutes, to see if Jemma was sleeping soundly. He would have to check on her before too long; wake her up. That was part of the keeping her here, because of her concussion. There were a few hours left in the year, but not many. As he looked up to check Jemma again, he noticed a familiar figure appear at the door.

“May,” he whispered. “You’re back. I was just looking over your data on the inhumans.”

“They’re settling in. Mack’s staying overnight to monitor them. How is she?” she asked, stepping forward slightly into the small room.

“She woke up just before they landed. She has a minor concussion, so I’m keeping an eye on her, but apart from that, she’s okay,” he replied, sounding more relieved than he had intended. He remained quiet for a moment.

“Did she lose it?”

“What?”

“At the Hydra facility, Daisy told me. She didn’t want Jemma to lose her baby.”

“I see. No, she didn’t lose it. They’re both fine, thank god.”

“Good. That’s good. Congrats.” She gave him one of her little polite-yet-genuine smiles that she did from time to time, and turned to leave.

“Thanks. I’ll tell her you came by.” He looked back at his tablet as she walked out the door.

She was nearly startled by Coulson standing in the doorframe across the hallway. Nearly.

“How’s Gutierrez?” she asked him calmly.

“He’s stabilized, but he still hasn’t woken up.” He replied, falling in step with her as she walked toward the elevator.

“From what I saw, he was at the source of the blast. Without his powers, he’d probably be covered in burns.”

“The doctors took care of his internal bleeding, but he still has brain injuries. We won’t know the full extent of them until he wakes up.” Coulson decided not to point out how much of an uncertainty that was itself. Instead he decided to change the subject. “Can you believe it?” he asked, gesturing back towards the room she had emerged from.

“Hardly,” she admitted.

“With all the visitors she had earlier, I feel like I was the last to know.”

“That’s a first.”

“Well, did you know?”

“Daisy let it slip after the explosion.” She pushed the up button at the elevator. “Has this happened at all since you took over?”

“No. Most agents live on the base now, so the protocol from before is outdated even without that fact. I told Jemma that I’d do my best to update it, but I’m going to be honest here and say I have no idea how to handle this situation.” They stepped into the lift.

“How do you think Fitz and Simmons feel?”

“Good point.”

 


	4. Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jemma is slowly getting used to her new, restricted life at S.H.I.E.L.D., but as she is very aware, things rarely stay the same for long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god you guys probably hate me, it's literally been almost a year since I updated this. I've not given up, though. It just kept getting pushed back, and then pushed to the side, then pushed back again. I'm so so very sorry. If you're reading this, thanks bunches for putting up with me and I hope you enjoy this chapter enough to not hate me anymore. As I said in my other fic's latest chapter notes, I'm trying to get more on a schedule for my fics, so if you'll be patient just a little longer, hopefully I'm going to posting a lot more this summer (I'm pretty sure I said that last summer welp). You're all fantastic and I'm such a horrible person I'm so sorry. As always shoutout to my beta for being such a supportive angel. Feedback is always appreciated and I love reading your comments!

Jemma gazed out the window at the newly risen sun. A light breeze was blowing through the Scottish countryside. She brushed her thumb absentmindedly back and forth against her cup of tea.

“Jemma?” Fitz asked. Jemma looked over to him. He sat cross legged on the floor a few feet away from her. “What are you thinking about?”

“I can’t remember,” Jemma said. She set her tea down on the end table and sat next to him. The curly-haired toddler between them lifted his blue eyes to look at her as she sat. He lifted a wooden yellow cube towards her in his small fist.

“For me?” Jemma asked, smiling as she held out her hand. The child quickly pulled the cube back towards his chest.

“Oh!” Jemma exclaimed. “That’s not very nice.” The child giggled. He put his hands on the ground in an effort to stand up. He flattened his feet and slowly raised his head and upper body. Fitz watched carefully with a small smile, his hand hovering a few inches away in case the boy fell.

“There you go,” Fitz commended, and once firmly upright, the boy waddled quickly across the room to the sofa.

“He’s getting quicker every day,” Jemma observed, and let out a light laugh as he began to climb up. She looked over at Fitz, who had one of his biggest smiles that she had ever seen. He didn’t take his eyes off of his son.

“Let’s have another one,” he said.

Jemma woke with a start. She sat up and looked at the clock on the table next to her. Her alarm would go off in less than an hour. She decided to get up anyways, as she doubted that she would be able to fall back asleep in that time. Next to her, the bed was empty.  Fitz had left the previous morning on a mission with Daisy, Mack, Coulson, and Hunter, prepping for some classified event in Alaska. In the three weeks since everyone had found out, Jemma had gotten used to being left in the dark on important missions. Unless they pertained to her particular field of knowledge, there was no point in giving her the secrets. After two and a half years, not including her time on Maveth, she didn’t realize how much she’d grown to love being in the field until she was deprived of it. But it wasn’t all bad. She had been working on transitioning the new inhumans with Lincoln, learning about their biology and still getting the chance to leave the base.

She shook off the dream, and began getting ready for the day.

* * *

“Wow, they’ve all improved so much today,” Lincoln exclaimed as they headed back into the Cocoon’s hangar. “I mean, the other day Pete couldn’t speak without using his powers, but today we held a conversation and I barely even felt swayed.” He smiled like a proud parent as they boarded the quinjet. “And was it just me, or did it feel like the twins were finally finding a balance with their energy?”

“It was almost beautiful to be quite honest. If they weren’t so deadly,” Jemma replied.

“ _She’s_ deadly. Her brother just draws from the same energy, but he uses it as a way to heal. It is beautiful.”

Jemma nodded as she buckled in. There was a silence between them for a few moments as the quinjet lifted up into the air and toward the Playground, but Lincoln broke in with a question.

“How are you feeling, by the way?”

“I had a good time with the inhumans, as usual, but the base has been feeling so empty since the group left yesterday.”

Lincoln chuckled. “I definitely feel that, but, uh, that’s not what I meant.”

“Oh?” Jemma was confused for a moment, before she realized what he was saying. “Oh, I see. Well, good, I suppose. Tired.” There was a beat.

“Is it weird that I asked you that?”

“A bit, yeah.”

“Sorry. Right. Not my business. We can talk about something else.”

“Yes. Let’s. How’s Joey?”

“Oh, Joey’s good! Since he woke up last week, he’s been up and about. He’s definitely taking some time off once his doctors give him the all clear, but he should recover fully. He’s felt guilty as hell since heard about your baby. You’ve been to see him, haven’t you?”

“Apparently, I would just make things worse. I think he knows I’m alright, though. That nothing bad’s happened.”

“That’s gotta be rough.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t faced before. Time’s probably the best thing he needs right now.”

“Agreed.” He hesitated a moment, then said, “The Cocoon is hardly a substitute for working out in the field. It must be a difficult adjustment.”

“It’s not the best assignment I’ve ever had, but I’m getting used it. I mean, I enjoy working with the inhumans, and you of course, but it’s definitely not the same.”

“Coulson’s working on it, right?”

“That’s what he keeps telling me, but there are certainly more pressing issues, so I’m not holding my breath.”

“I’m sorry. If it helps, I wouldn’t be making near as much progress with the inhumans without you.”

“Thanks." Jemma smiled politely.

* * *

 

“So, I take it the ‘eating for two’ thing has really started to kick in,” Bobbi said.

Jemma looked up from her plate, mouth full of food. She swallowed, and they both burst out laughing. “Yes, I suppose it has,” Jemma grinned, glancing back down at her crowded plate.  

“I’m still surprised you and Fitz are going through with this. I mean, I’m impressed that you’re trying to do both.”

That took Jemma aback. “I’m sorry, both?”

“A lot of agents used to think it had to be one or the other. S.H.I.E.L.D. or family. That they could only pick one. I know that’s how Coulson was.”

“I never thought about it like that. S.H.I.E.L.D. is like my family.”

“What you and Fitz are doing could change a lot. Rarely in S.H.I.E.L.D. does one person’s decision go without affecting others, at least in my experience. This happened to a couple agents I knew back when I was new, and to them there were only two options: end the pregnancy or leave S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Well, I have no plans to do either one of those things. We’ve sacrificed too much for S.H.I.E.L.D. to go anywhere else.”

“Good. And I can’t imagine a world where only one of you is here. Do you have any idea if he’s planning to propose?”

Jemma almost choked on her food. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I mean, some people do that in your situation. And you know Fitz. Always the traditionalist.”

“When have we ever been traditional? The last time we tried that, I ended up on another planet for six months.”

Bobbi shrugged. “He kept that reservation.”

“He did.” There was a pause. “We haven’t discussed it at all. Do you really think he’d…?”

“I mean, I’m sure it’s crossed his mind. You won’t know until you ask him, though.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“You don’t seem too thrilled at the suggestion.”

“I guess I assumed the marriage thing was a long way off.”

“Just like the babies thing?” Bobbi smiled again.

* * *

 

The Zephyr arrived precisely when it was scheduled to return, much to Jemma’s relief. Bobbi, Lincoln, and May, who had been running point, joined her in the wait by the hangar door. It slid open, and Daisy was the first to come through. She grabbed on to the nearest person, who happened to be Jemma, and pulled her into a hug.

“Warmth, finally!” Daisy exclaimed.

Lincoln chuckled. “Alaska cold?” he asked.

“You’re joking right. Two days in the arctic circle in the middle of winter followed by several hours in the stratosphere is not a particularly hot experience.”

“I can’t begin to imagine,” Jemma smiled, hugging Daisy back.

“We had heat on the Zephyr,” Hunter pointed out, approaching behind Daisy with Fitz, Mack, and Coulson.

“You don’t get to talk, Mr. Three-blankets-over-your-parka,” Daisy said, letting go of Jemma and turning back to Hunter. She grabbed Lincoln around the waist and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Yeah, are you sure you don’t need me to go back and get a blanket from the Zephyr?” Mack asked.

“You say that as if you weren’t all doing the same thing,” Hunter said, smiling and pulling Bobbi close to him, kissing her on the cheek.

“You win this round.” Daisy squinted her eyes at him and headed down the hallway with Lincoln. The others smiled and followed, leaving Fitz alone with Jemma.

“Was the flight back really that terrible?” Jemma asked.

“We were working all night, so I slept most of the way back, but you know Coulson. Ever stingy with the air,” Fitz replied. He grabbed her hand and gently kissed her on the lips. “I missed you.”

“Missed you, too,” she replied, smiling softly. “Everything go according to plan?”

“Yep, everything’s all set up. Bloom’s staying up there to keep an eye on things. We should be heading back in a week with backup when the, uh, event occurs.” Jemma smiled faltered briefly for a moment, so Fitz changed the subject. “What about here? Everything run smoothly?”

“Well, the inhumans we brought in a few weeks ago are making good progress,” Jemma said as they started toward their room.

“That’s great to hear. You’re still feeling good, then?”

“If by good, you mean getting sick at the same time every night, having to pee every twenty minutes, and constantly being hungry, then yes. I’m feeling very good.”

Fitz smiled and squeezed her hand.

“Bobbi mentioned something at lunch that I haven’t stopped thinking about.”

“What’s the matter?” She pulled him into their room and shut the door behind them.

“Marriage.” She interlocked her fingers and began rubbing her right palm with her left thumb.

Fitz opened his mouth to say something and closed it again, before deciding on, “I see.” He sat down on the bed.

“You’re not… planning anything, are you?”

“Do you want me to be planning something?”

“I don’t want you to feel like you need to be planning something.”

Fitz closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I understand we’ve not spoken about this before, but would you mind explaining what you mean?”

“We’ve not even been dating for a year. I just don’t think we should make any snap decisions. Get married when we want to, _if_ we want to _._ Not because we feel we _need_ to. Because our lives are changing quite a bit already.”

“Okay.” He nodded slowly and looked back up at her. “Right, that makes sense. And is a little less terrifying than the word ‘marriage’ after being pulled into a room with the pregnant girlfriend you haven’t seen in two days.”

“Not the best way to start a conversation, got it.” Jemma smiled and sat down to his right on the bed and squeezed his hand. “But you’re not mad?”

“No, of course not. I don’t know how your parents will feel about that, but I’m perfectly all right with that arrangement.”

“My parents! Oh, my god, we haven’t told them. Or your mum. What will they think? This is definitely not facetime news, this is in-person news.” Her hand went absentmindedly to her stomach, as it had been doing more and more frequently.

“Well, I read that book you gave me on the flight over, and it says it’s probably best to wait to tell friends and family until the second trimester. Since all our friends already know, it might be best to actually follow suit on that with our parents.”

 “I feel like telling them would make it all real. Especially after another month.” Jemma laid back on the bed. Fitz leaned beside her on his elbow, his left hand resting atop hers, gently stroking her belly with his thumb. She considered telling him about her dream, but decided against it. “I need to buy new pants tomorrow. I could hardly get mine on this morning.”

“Is that so?”

“It’s just the waist. Everything else fit fine. The button just wasn’t having it. Or the zipper.” They both laughed. “Also, did I mention I’m always exhausted? No matter how much sleep I get, I still struggle to keep my eyes open by the afternoon.”

“In that case, I am very appreciative you waited up for me. You get some rest,” he said, sitting back up. “I haven’t eaten since before we got back on the Zephyr. Hunter said he was going to make something. He didn’t say what, though. Just that it would be warm.”

“Have fun. I’ll see you in the morning. I love you.”

“Love you, too.” He kissed her hand, followed by her forehead, and headed out the door.

* * *

 

Jemma knelt down to examine the contents of her bag. It was dark in the cave, but it felt good to be out in the field again. Not too cramped, as the room was probably twenty-five feet across. There were two portable lamps so that she could see, along with the ten-foot pool of black liquid that seemed to glow. It wasn’t bright, but she knew she would still be able to see if her lamps were to fail her. She searched for equipment with which she could examine the mysterious pool, discover its contents and their chemical structures. She knew she had to stay quiet, and leave as soon as she was done taking her samples. There was no telling how dangerous the dark pool was.

 Across the pool she heard a noise, and the toddler from her dream appeared from behind a rock. Jemma was overcome with a wave of panic. She wanted to stop him, to protect him, but she knew calling out for him would be more dangerous than anything else. She stood and neared the pool, careful of its edge. The boy sat near the pool and started playing with the jagged gravel that covered the floor. Before Jemma could say anything, she saw one of the rocks slice open tiny finger, and blood start covering his tiny hand. The toddler began to cry. She needed to get to the child, to soothe him, to keep him quiet, but no matter how far she walked around the edge of the pool, he always seemed to be exactly across from her.

A loud sound told Jemma that whatever she had been trying to avoid had heard the crying. The boy got up and waddled toward the pool itself, and Jemma began running toward him and calling to him, desperate to save him from whatever dark liquid filled the pool, but she still remained opposite him. She watched as his tiny red trainers stepped one after the other into the obscure liquid, and she started screaming. He was sinking, still crying at the top of his lungs, and there was nothing Jemma could do as she watched the last of his curls disappear.

Jemma jolted awake, breathing heavily. She felt sick to her stomach, something she had grown quite used to in the past few weeks. The sound of Fitz softly snoring next to her brought her some piece of mind, but she still had to get up. She quickly tiptoed across the cold floor and out into the hallway towards the bathroom.

Once she felt better, she realized that she once again had to pee. In doing so, another wave of panic crashed over her as she noticed a few small red spots on her pants. She quickly washed her hands, and an alarm started going off in the hallway. When she opened the door, agents were rushing in all directions, paying no mind to her in her plaid pajama bottoms. She began walking back to her room, her hand unconsciously drifting back to her stomach.

The door was already open when she arrived. Agent Davis stood a few feet inside the room, and he was just finishing up a sentence. Fitz was sat up in bed, a serious look on his face.

“Thank you, Davis,” Fitz said. Davis nodded and turned to leave, smiling politely at Jemma as he passed her in the doorway.

“Fitz,” Jemma began as she stepped into the room.

“There you are!” Fitz exclaimed, getting out of bed and grabbing clothes from his drawer. “I was worried I wouldn’t get to say goodbye before I left. That event in Alaska we thought wasn’t happening for another week? It’s starting today.”

“Fitz, I’m bleeding.”

“Oh. Oh!” He dropped his clothes and ran over to her. “Oh, my god. We should go to the infirmary.”

Jemma shook her head. “I’ll go by myself. It’s only a little bit. Your mission is too important.”

Fitz grabbed her hands. “Jemma, if something’s wrong, I’m not leaving you here by yourself. You’re more important.”

“Fitz, don’t be ridiculous. The situation—”

“Stop. To me, you are. Now come on.” Jemma nodded reluctantly, and together they headed down the hallway in their pajamas. They crossed the corridor opposite the hangar door and turned toward the vaults.

“Fitz,” Coulson called from behind them. They stopped. Fitz turned and approached him. Agents were still rushing past in all directions.

“Sir,” Fitz addressed him.

“Why aren’t you dressed for the mission?” Coulson asked.

“Respectfully, sir, I won’t be going. Something’s wrong, and I need to stay back. I was more necessary for the preparations than I am for the actual event, and I believe Agent Mackenzie is more than capable of handling both of our duties.”

Coulson glanced between Fitz and Jemma. “Understood. Take care of yourselves. I’ll let Mack know, but keep in mind this won’t always be an option.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

“Thank you, sir,” Jemma echoed.

* * *

 

Jemma sat on the side of the examination table, Fitz standing beside her holding her hand.

“I assure you, during the first trimester, a bit of light bleeding is perfectly normal,” Dr. Myra informed them.

“You’re sure?” Fitz asked.

“Are you in any pain?” Dr. Myra asked Jemma.

“No, I’m not,” Jemma replied.

“Then there’s nothing to worry about. Is that all you needed?”

“That’s it. Thanks so much. Sorry to bother you at this hour,” Jemma said.

“It’s no bother. I’d be surprised if anyone _wasn’t_ woken up by that alarm. I’ll let you be.” Dr. Myra smiled and left the room.

Jemma put her head in her hands. “I can’t believe you missed your mission for ‘nothing to worry about.’”

“We had no idea that would be the case,” Fitz put his arm around her and rubbed her shoulder. “Imagine if I had gone and something happened.”

“That’s all I can think about,” Jemma looked up at him. “The next time something happens and you’re not there. In a year, two years, ten years. If something happens to him and we’re out on a mission. Or something happens to us. I couldn’t say which is worse.”

“We know the risks of the job. What are you saying?”

Jemma took a deep breath. She thought about what Bobbi said earlier, and her strange dreams the past two nights, and all the fuss that had happened tonight. She looked down at her hand that Fitz was still holding, and back up to meet his eyes. “Maybe we shouldn’t stay at S.H.I.E.L.D.”


End file.
